Savannah Guthrie of the Today show is back to work and seeing 2020 in the New Year after Retinal Detachment Surgery.
Last month, Savannah Guthrie’s 3 year old son, accidentally hit her in the eye with a toy train that caused her retina to detach. After first attempting a non-invasive laser procedure to treat the tear, that was unsuccessful, retinal detachment surgery was the only option. Surgery was successful and Guthrie is now back at work after completing her facedown therapy and gaining her vision back, however, there is always a chance that her retina could tear again. Dr. Allen Chiang provided his insight on the possibility of a redetachment: “Unfortunately some patients will experience a redetachment. Fortunately this occurs in only a minority of patients, approximately 10%. It usually is either due to the development of a new retinal tear or extensive scar tissue called proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR), for which we do not yet have an effective prevention, treatment, or cure. PVR can develop weeks or months after the initial surgery and the scar tissue effectively exerts tension on the retina, redetaching it and requiring additional surgery.”
As a news anchor, Guthrie is always in front of the camera, reading teleprompters or asking questions in interviews, so getting her vision back was priority. She posted on her Instagram, screenshots of her retina before and after surgery. As you can see, the surgery was a huge success, and she is back at work without glasses or complications due to the surgery. Wearing glasses or contact lenses could be an issue to someone who has undergone retinal detachment surgery, but that doesn’t mean they can never be worn again. Dr. Chiang explains, “Many patients undergo visual correction (e.g. glasses or contact lenses) which may or may not help the vision. Many patients can still wear contact lenses, but not until after the eye has fully healed which may be several weeks.”
We wish her continued recovery and if you want to learn more about retinal detachment symptoms, treatment and surgery, visit our page on Retinal Detachment or contact us for more information.
